MONTPELIER – Hal Cohen, secretary of the Vermont Agency of Human Services, knows the impact of having money saved up for college.

As a child, he said, his grandmother showed him a blue book where she was putting aside money for his college education.

"Throughout the years, my grandma would bring out that blue book and say, 'See, see how much money is in it? Has your name on it. You're going to college.' And it was something that really inspired me," Cohen recalled at a news conference Thursday.

That expectation helped Cohen to become the first person in his immediate family to graduate from college.

Cohen joined Gov. Peter Shumlin, Rep. Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, and others to call for a new program that would create college savings accounts for every child born in the state.

"It says, particularly to the low-income child, I can go to college one day," Cohen said. "And that expectation is truly a ticket out of poverty."

No taxpayer money would be involved at first, according to the governor, though the language of the bill does anticipate that possibility.

Private donations could allow each account to start with $250 or $500, depending on family income, with incentives for saving. Money could only be used for college, a degree program or vocational school and related expenses.

"If we can help Vermonters start from the beginning to put money away for their kids' higher education," Shumlin said, "we're going to grow jobs, we're going to grow economic opportunity and we're going to make Vermont's economy work for every single Vermonter."

The initiative would be administered by the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) and would also include a financial literacy program.

House bill 448 was introduced this month and referred to the House Education Committee. Maine has a similar program, according to a governor's office news release.

Contact April Burbank at (802) 660-1863 or aburbank@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AprilBurbank